


Watched Over by Death

by Astrum_Hymnus



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: All the characters are a bit ooc, Alpha Mephisto Pheles, Alpha Okumura Rin, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Assiah, Blood, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Bonding, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Childbirth, Death, Death in Childbirth, Demon Okumura Rin, Demon Rin, Demon Summoning, Demonic Possession, Dragon AU, Dragons, F/M, Familiars, Gehenna, It's too bad Yuri dies, Kid Okumura Rin, Kid Okumura Yukio, Mephisto Pheles is a Little Shit, No Beta We Die Like Hilichurls, Okumura Rin Acts More Mature, Okumura Rin Needs a Hug, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other additional characters to be added, Possession, Slow Build, Soul Bond, Soulmates, Subgenders, Summoning, Summoning Circles, Team Bonding, Teamwork, True Cross Academy, True Cross Order, Unsealed Rin Okumura, Yukio Okumura Needs a Hug, at least we've got rin and yukio tho, blue flames, but he's serious sometimes too, only in some places, this makes it seem kinda dark buts it not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astrum_Hymnus/pseuds/Astrum_Hymnus
Summary: For demon kings, managing or manipulating humans is a way to pass the time, and means to an end. However, their soulmate—their other half—that they can share their lives with, exist with, is someone that they always search for. Demonic politics and personal agendas always come second once they find their counterpart.For Rin, he just wants to survive with his brother Yukio, but life doesn't always go the way he wants. When he reaches high school, he's thrust into the turbulent life of learning he's the son of Satan and going to a school full of exorcists. It's all rather crazy, until he's in class and summons the demon king of death who claims him as her soulmate, and then it just gets that much crazier.Just for funsies but please help me get a better title.
Relationships: Kamiki Izumo & Okumura Rin, Kamiki Izumo & Paku Noriko, Kirigakure Shura & Okumura Rin, Mephisto Pheles & Original Character(s), Miwa Konekomaru & Okumura Rin, Miwa Konekomaru & Shima Renzou, Miwa Konekomaru & Shima Renzou & Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji, Miwa Konekomaru & Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji, Moriyama Shiemi & Okumura Rin, Moriyama Shiemi & Okumura Yukio, Okumura Rin & Everyone, Okumura Rin & Okumura Yukio, Okumura Rin & Original Female Character(s), Okumura Rin & Shima Renzou, Okumura Rin & Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji, Okumura Rin/Original Female Character(s), Shima Renzou & Suguro "Bon" Ryuuji
Kudos: 14





	1. Chapter 1

This is just a summary and giving due credits where it's due. All these authors are extremely talented, so I encourage you to go check them out! This will give you some information to help, such as plot modifications, and concept and idea origins. It's not necessary, but does have a lot of useful info, and may help answer any questions you may have. If you are still left wondering about something, feel free to ask, and I will get back to you as soon as I can. If I feel it would be helpful for all readers, I will stick it in the beginning notes of the newest chapter. Also, this is inspired by a lot of works, where I got some concepts and ideas from, as well as what I'm changing.

Inspired by:

 _Briar Rose Syndrome_ by BeingofEverything

(concept of 9 demon kings; Gehenna being separated into the demon kings' territories, and each territory being harder to cross and be in)

 _A Mother's Touch_ by squidears

(the concept of speaking Gehennan)

 _survival is a talent_ by ShanaStoryteller

(the idea that two must touch to know they're soulmates, but I changed it how they must smell their scent)

The actual series:

(Storyline- I'll follow the storyline, but mess with it for my purposes. Since I'm following the storyline, this will contain spoilers, so just a fair warning. I will also be adding behind-the-scenes things to fill in parts of the plot since I'm changing it up quite a bit. Because of the way this story will be laid out, I will have a lot of pre-canon jazz happening so set all of this up.

Characters- I will be using the Blue Exorcist/Ao no Exorcist characters, and they don't belong to me, so just a disclaimer there. I will be modifying their personalities and reactions here and there to suit my plot. I am also getting the idea that ALL of the demon kings can turn into animals--not just Mephisto and Amaimon. I had a lot of fun with this idea. I will also be including my oc Tiamut as one of the main characters in the story. She will be the Demon King of Darkness, the foil to Lucifer. Her animal form will be a dark western dragon, as that is how she is often depicted in theology.

Demons- I will be using the demons in the series that are listed. I'll try to be as accurate as possible! I used the official wiki and the manga demon loss for this (thank God for the internet, am I right?), so I shouldn't be too far off the mark of I have an inaccuracy. Gonna make some of them kin of Azrael just so the demon king isn't without demons.)

Other Stuff:

Soulmate au- I love this au, which is all I can really say. I love the idea that there is someone out there for the characters, even if they aren't even born yet, which is the case for part of the plot. Since unless their egos are destroyed, demons in the series are essentially immortal, I am making it so that the demon kings' soulmates appear any time after subgenders developed. Every thousand years, a demon's soulmate will be born. This is to overcome the unbelievable odds of even a teleporting demon finding their one soulmate in the ENTIRE world, as the chance of finding them before they die is basically non-existent. If their soulmate is found, this cycle of new soulmates will end. Once bonded, the demon king will have the ability to grant their soulmate immortality and control over their age if the soulmate so desires. If they want to, the soulmate can reject this blessing at any time, but if they have surpassed the typical human life expectancy by too much, they will fade away, as their body does not have the protection preserving their body anymore. Once a demon's soulmate dies, the thousand-year cycle will resume. If a demon's vessel dies and haven't found their soulmate yet, they will not have a soulmate until they regain a suitable vessel. However, if they leave the vessel behind, they still keep their potential soulmate.

Subgender au- This part is… interesting, to say the least, but it adds depth to the characters and plot, so I stuck it in. With the whole mating cycles thing… I don't write that too often, but I know some people are uncomfortable with it, so I'll stick in a part you can skip to and continue the story. I'll also give a warning in the beginning chapter notes. I'll try my best to be… not awkward when I write those parts. So. Yeah. Gimme a bit of slack though, okay? Thanks! I'm also adjusting the time frames between cycles to every fifty years until a demon finds their soulmate, and then once a year after they've met. For the sake of the plot, I'm bumping up the presenting age to the beginning of highschool, or around ages 14-16. For humans, cycles will be biannually. If they meet their demonic soulmate and bond with them, it syncs with the demon king to become once a year.

Story Timeline:

Messed with the pre-Blue Night timeline a bit, but some of the stuff is pretty accurate. I did adjust Yuri's age a bit.

30 years prior - Yuri is 5 and is taken to Asylum

25 years prior - Yuri is 10 and has first mission (Ent)

19 years prior - Yuri is 16 and has the Mexico mission

12 years prior - Satan begins to enter Goro's body (Azazel group)

7 years prior - Azrael leaves her vessel

5 years prior - Azrael gains her vessel

3 years prior - Satan gains his ego

10 month prior - Yuri becomes pregnant

Blue Night - Rin and Yukio Okumura are born

Azrael's Kin:

Black dog— no listed affiliation, but I'll make them Azrael's kin.

Death— duh. Mephisto has enough stuff, he can lose one.

Gufu— crows are typically imagined to be associated with death, and they have no current affiliation, so ha, it's Azrael's now.

Malkin— scarecrows are usually associated with Halloween and jazz, so death vibes and stuff.

Mara Dragon— only appears in game and has no affiliation, but it looks like something affiliated with death.

Author's Note:

I am a huge nerd and hate having errors in my stuff, so if you see a typo or grammatical error I didn't catch on my proofread, please let me know!!! Help is very much appreciated. Also, in regards to my update schedule: I am a very busy human being, much like most of you might be, so it will be sporadic updates, so please don't spam me with stuff asking for new stuff. I love you all dearly, but I don't like being blown up with stuff.

Also, as most authors wish, please DO NOT REPOST THIS!!! If you do, I will be sad. Also, please don't steal my oc Azrael, please and thank you. I'll include a picture as well, so please don't take that either.

I'm not sure how long this will be, but I have a feeling it will be rather long, as I have had this idea sitting in my head for literal months. This is also my first fanfic EVER, so please treat me kindly!!! Any encouragement, suggestions, or tips are appreciated. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did imagining it and writing it! Please, enjoy!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first actual chapter, here we go!! Most of this is simply laying the foundation and setting the story and such. This and the next several chapters will take place during the blue night arc, so spoiler alert, but not really. Actually, yes. Spoiler alert.

**11 years until the Blue Night**

Mephisto sighed, staring at the pile of paperwork on his desk. Section 13 was not fulfilling its purpose, and Lucifer was reaching the end of his patience. The clones they were producing were unstable and unsuitable for his possession. Once his current vessel gave out, Lucifer had sworn he would explode like a time bomb and take the world down with him, and Samael doubted he would go back on his promise. The whole point of this experiment was to delay the inevitable.

 _'I've tried to convince him numerous times to let go of his body and return to Gehenna, but he's refused every time…'_ He sighs again. _'None of the immortality elixirs are working, even though elder sister is rounding up immortal demons to get samples for the tests.'_

He had sent Shemihaza down in a last effort to get Lucifer to abandon his attachment to his body, and was stuck reading reports. There had been a strange phenomenon happening in the Lucifer group, with an unstable presence flicking in and out of the strongest clone they had created to date. The researchers decided to strengthen the body to see what would happen, and over the course of a year, the possessions had happened two more times, the second a bit longer than the first.

His elder sister Azrael was helping him with the elixir project, seeing it as an excuse to travel and look for her soulmate. She had sided with the humans centuries ago when Lucifer dragged several of his siblings into plaguing the world with calamities and agreed that, once again, she would try to protect the humans from her brother's explosive tantrum. (Both of them found the end of the world less than ideal.)

Thanks to her, they had more than enough materials with which to create the elixirs, but none of them had any lasting effect. She was willing to give insight whenever he needed a new perspective, and created a base elixir to go off of that didn't immediately backfire when they administered it. That had bought them a bit more time, but they were beginning to lose that, too.

A twinge in the back of his head alerted him that Amaimon had returned and found his perfect vessel.

 _'He just left the other day to return to Gehenna. Has he already found a suitable body already? And in this facility as well…'_ He paled a bit at that. _'This will surely make his patience wane even more.'_

A poof sounded and the smell of rain and wisteria entered the room. Mephisto looked up and saw his sister, dressed in the special patrol exorcist uniform which granted her access to virtually every exorcist facility in the world. Her long, slate gray hair had been tied up into a low ponytail and draped over her shoulder, and she was looking at him with thinly veiled surprise.

"I thought Amaimon just left his body several days ago. Did he really find a vessel already?" She bit her lip. "Lucifer is going to be _pissed_."

"He did. I was just going to go down and see what was happening. Care to come with me?"

Tiamut shrugged. "Sure. Snap or walk?"

"Hmm, maybe walk? We might be able to catch wind of some news."

"Alright."

The two head out, exiting his office and going into the pale colored hallways of Section 13. When they took an elevator down to the floor holding the clones, they were greeted with a flurry of action. Caretakers were running about, carrying smaller clones, guiding others. The clones with fragile personalities were bawling at the chaos, while the other more unhinged ones were being rambunctious and adding to the mess. Most of the crowd was moving away from the hallways with Samael's clones. Shouts ordering everyone to evacuate the test subjects echoed everywhere.

Azrael raised an eyebrow while surveying the scene. She gestured for Mephisto to step out of the elevator first, and followed him through the path he left in his passing. The hallways were even more crowded, people pressing shoulder to shoulder. She trailed after him while he slipped through the traffic to get to a small space he saw beside the door. She had caught up with him by the time he was entering the room, and peeked her head inside just in time to hear a man shout that a demon was possessing a subject from the Samael group.

"Looks like this is the right room," she commented.

"Indeed. Now, I'm going to go congratulate our dear brother on his new vessel."

The two slipped through the crowd until they got to where the clone was writhing on the ground. A long, lizard-like tail had already slithered out from underneath the shirt. As they looked on, horns sprouted and a heart began to form over the subject's chest, before bursting into Amaimon's floral demon heart. 

Mephisto let out a hum, before remarking, "Amaimon's body is a clone of _me_."

The possession was already complete, and the earth king was gingerly feeling his face in awe.

"It… doesn't hurt," observed Amaimon, before looking up at the approach of his two siblings. "Big brother..? Big sister..?

"Congratulations, Amaimon."

Azrael nodded and gave a small but warm smile at him, offering a congratulations of her own.

"Is this body a clone of you?" A nod from Mephisto. "It doesn't hurt. Thanks for the suitable body."

"No matter. I'm just glad this facility is good for something."

A snort came from their sister, who was looking pointedly at Mephisto. "If I could get a good vessel, this place would be good for something else. This one is starting to wear down faster on me, what with all of this running around hunting demons. It's already difficult to breathe, so at the rate I'm going, I _may_ be able to last five more years."

"Ah ah, dear sister. Remember it's for the good of this planet," he reminded her, and got a grimace in return.

"Sweet words won't lessen the pain. Having a body is a privilege we take for granted. Unlike you, I don't have the ability to reverse the effects on my vessel."

"I understand perfectly well. I don't have a perfect vessel either."

"Ah, well. I suppose all I can do is wait for one to show up. Or until you make an elixir that can keep this one going," she teased, jabbing at the fact it had been years and he still hadn't succeeded.

"I'm sure you'll find a suitable vessel at some point," Amaimon assured, still overjoyed over his new vessel, though his static face never showed it unless one knew what to look for.

"I hope so," Azrael blandly said, "because if I don't, I'm going to haunt you from Gehenna until you get me a new one, Mephisto."

"Goodness, don't do that." Mephisto brought his hand to his chest in mock horror. "How would I be able to concentrate on getting you a new body if I'm being haunted?"

"Ah, touché. Now, I apologise for the abrupt exit, but I believe you wanted me to snag a tube of hydra blood for you, right Mephisto? You said you were getting a bit low." At an affirmative nod from Mephisto, she turned to Amaimon. "Congratulations, younger brother. Be careful with your new body. Now, I'm going to head on. Is there anything you want me to get while I'm out?"

Mephisto blinked at how oddly domestic that sounded. He was running low on dango, and there was a new game that had come out. He popped a piece of paper in front of his sister with a list of things to get. 

She deadpanned upon reading the list's contents. "Another game for your weird otaku collection?"

"Yes, but the first game was so good, I just had to get the second." He grinned, earning himself an eye roll. "Any game store worth their salt should have it. Amaimon, would you like to play it?"

"No, I'll watch. Bye sister."

Azrael left with a snap, and appeared in the cold mountains of Aomori. It was a long trudge through the blizzard that was raging when she arrived, and she wished she could teleport straight to Hachirotaro's domain, but last time she'd done that, she'd gotten chewed out for disturbing his time with this little girl he kept with him. So, she had to go right to the edge of his territory and walk the rest of the way.

She could always disobey his wishes and save some time, but she'd really like to _not_ get on his bad side. (Demon king of Death or second in Gehenna's power hierarchy be damned, he would still be a hassle to deal with.) So through the cold snowy landscape it was.

_'I swear, if he's in the middle of that lake… I am not going down there after him.'_

So far as she knew, his hut by the lake hadn't moved since the last time she'd been here, and she wasn't about to happily go looking for it (but apparently it did move, so she had to go looking for it anyways). An hour more of walking by the side of the partially frozen lake yielded no results until she came upon a small knoll where the hut now sat. She didn't hear him moving about in his hut, but she heard a very soft _something_ , so she assumed it was probably the kid sleeping.

After climbing up the couple of steps leading to the interior, she wiped all the snow off of her uniform before tapping on the door and walking in. The girl was indeed inside, napping on a bed of straw and covered in a thin blanket. It was a bit cool in the hut, so her omegan instincts kicked in and she mindlessly snapped an extra wool blanket over her so she wouldn't catch a cold. She allowed herself a little smile at the child curling further into the warmth. (She totally wasn't going soft.)

She leaned against the wall to wait for Hachiro, wondering how in the world they were going to get a suitable elixir to buy them more time from Lucifer. The scientists were experimenting at that very moment to strengthen the body of subject Az-005 as a side project, and they were making decent progress, so she would have to see if they could finalize one of those and give it to Lucifer.

Hydra blood had been by far the most effective base, with the regenerative properties that it maintained months after extraction, so they had gone through it fairly quickly. She was glad they had Hachiro aiding them, as he was a great resource to have.

Surprisingly, who convinced the demon to help them was not Mephisto, but Amaimon. It may have had to do with hydra being Amaimon's kin, but that alone would not have decided it. Amaimon had asked for a couple of days to convince the other demon to join, and by the end of the first day, Hachiro agreed. It was boggling that their typically straightforward brother was _that_ persuasive, but Azrael and Mephisto decided he must have had a cunning streak they never knew about.

The opening door broke Azrael from her musings, and she looked up to see Hachiro walking in, his garments dripping with snow that was left on him. He turned his many eyes (She'll never get used to that.) on her and made sure she hadn't harmed the girl before turning to her again.

"It's you again," he said with the air of someone who had seen someone else far too much. She didn't know where that attitude came from—she'd only seen him twice. "Have you come to collect more blood?"

"It is me again, and I have. We ran out yesterday, and yours has been far more useful than any others."

"Humans are so wasteful," he scoffed, but held out his arm anyways so she could take what blood she needed.

Azrael shrugged, and began working. "Not my problem. They could probably make smaller test elixirs, but my job is to collect materials, not manage the researchers."

They sat in silence until she was done, neither seeing any point in making conversation. 

"Thanks for being so understanding about this," she said, finishing up the process and snapping away the collected blood. "You remember why we're doing this, right? Why it's necessary?"

"I do. I should hope you make a solution soon; Lucifer is likely not going to wait much longer. Should he decide to destroy this planet, harm would befall Tatsuko, and that is something I cannot allow."

"I understand. The agreement still stands: so long as you are aiding our cause, and Section 13 is still operable, you remain under True Cross's protection. However, if Lucifer turns this earth to dust, and us back to concepts, I can't say that our protection will do you any good."

"That much is obvious, but thank you," Hachiro glanced at the child as she stirred. "Since Tatsuko is waking up, you should leave."

She agreed, and snapped back to Mephisto's office just as the girl 'Tatsuko' got up. The time king was, once again, sitting haggard (though he would never let anyone except Amaimon and Azrael see that) behind his desk, wearily filling out forms and reading reports just like he had been the last time she teleported into his room. She knocked on the side of the wall close to where she was standing to get Mephisto's attention. He looked up.

"I got the blood from Hachiro," reported Azrael. "Would you like me to put it in the same place as before?"

"Yes, please," came the reply.

Azrael raised her hand to snap, but paused. "You know I really hate it when you run yourself into the ground like this, right?"

A soft, breathy sigh. "I know."

She furrowed her brows a bit, concern showing through her eyes. "...Okay. Be careful." She worried her lip before snapping to one of the lower levels where the materials were kept. Her brother's stress levels were worrisome, but she supposed that's what came with running a cram school, the Asylum, and a secret research program to keep the world from being blown to pieces.

She might have to take on a couple more research branches to help him a bit. The program did fine without her, but sometimes it helped to give it a little boost. Besides, if those strengthening elixir given to Az-005 worked well enough, she could tweak the final products before giving them to Lucifer.

At this point, she was sure that anything to help stop the necrosis from spreading or fortify his vessel, no matter how small the effect, would be appreciated. She knew how terrible it was, to have your vessel deteriorating for no reason other than simply not being strong enough to sustain its possessor. No wonder it made Lucifer snap.

She had always left her body and flitted around as a concept in her territory in Gehenna as soon as the necrosis would eat away too much of her vital organs, so she had never experienced the pain to the point that Lucifer was, but understood it enough to know it was _utter agony_. Being forced to suffer the cruelty of being a concept with a personal ego for a couple years was worth it didn't lessen the chance of finding her soulmate.

Lucifer had found his own soulmate centuries ago, but after a couple hundred years of watching their children live, have offspring of their own, grow old, and finally die, his mate had come to him asking to have the blessing removed. He was grieved at her decision, but acquiesced. 

Her death brought about a period for him that was full of anger, bloodshed, and war, as he took out his emotions on the human race like he once did so much time before. To the humans, it was called World War 1 and 2. To the demons, it was called Bloody Mourning. It was a time of violence in both Assiah and Gehenna, and with the dark emotions that had surrounded the world, crazed demons had flooded in and the Order had been overwhelmed--so much so that they called on the help of the Kings that aligned themselves with them.

Eventually, Lucifer had burned himself out, both emotionally and physically, and returned to the estate the demon kings shared to be comforted by a pile of sympathetic alphas and a doting omega. (If humans thought they were mindless beasts, they'd never seen an emotional demonic dogpile.) It was really a rather anticlimactic end, but that's how it happened.

The pain that would come with releasing your soulmate if they desired was unfathomable, but so was the amount of completeness that would come with having them. In Azrael's opinion, the pain was far outweighed by being united with the other half of her soul. As an omega, her desire for her soulmate was a bit stronger than her alpha siblings, so her soulmate was someone she looked for more frequently than the rest of her siblings.

A nag in the back of her head indicating Mephisto wanted her shook her out of the trip down memory lane, and she snapped to his office once again.

"Thanks for coming back."

"No problem," she dismissed, waving her hands a bit. "What did you want me for?"

Mephisto rested his elbows on his desk and steepled his fingers. "I was wondering if you would be willing to help Drac Dragulesc with his elixirs. He is making good progress, but you can help speed it up."

Well, that was puzzling.

"I know of no one named Dragulesc. What department?"

"Ah, that is his real name," informed Mephisto. "He goes under the alias Nikolai Eminescu whenever he works here. Right now, he is the head of the Elixir Research Department."

"That's why I didn't know him," realized Azrael. "I knew his name was Nikolai Eminescu, I hadn't realized it was a false identity. But sure thing, I can help. I feel like you might've hit a bit of a wall at the moment."

Mephisto chuckled. "Yes, we have. That's why I asked for your help today. If it's alright, would you be willing to begin helping immediately?"

"Of course. Deepest floor, yes?"

"Correct. If my information serves correctly, they should be about to give Lucifer another elixir now. Please do go over it before something else gets messed up."

"Right, I would rather not have an irritated Lucifer on our hands."

She gave a nod of farewell and then departed with a snap to the deepest room in the facility. The faint smell of rotting skin reached her sensitive nose as the door slid open and she entered the room holding Lucifer, whose body was littered with bandages and IV tubes. As soon as she stepped foot in the room, she could feel the king of light's piercing gaze focus on her, though he had not moved an inch. Draculesc was behind him preparing a machine for an injection.

"Doctor Eminescu!"

The scientist startled at the sound of his name and looked in her direction before finally spotting her. "Ah! Lady Tiamut! What brings you down here?"

"Mephisto sent me to help you with the elixirs. I'm supposed to act as your advisor in this and inspect any elixirs before you give them to Lucifer, starting with this one." She walked over to him and put out her hand. "May I see it? I'm just going to double check everything and make sure no properties make it incompatible with his host."

"By all means, please," he answers, handing her the elixir.

"Have you tested it on subject Az-005 yet?"

"We have, and it yielded very good results. We identified which materials were the most effective, and added more amounts of those to this elixir."

Dragulesc reported the whole process, and which ingredients the researchers added, answering Azrael's questions until she was satisfied. They injected the elixir, and waited with bated breath to see if there were any visible negative effects. After seeing none, Azrael went to stand by the side of Lucifer's bed.

Whenshe was closer, she could see his emaciated body in greater clarity. His entire head was wrapped in bandages that had been newly replaced but were already a little stained; only his mouth, nose, and black and red eyes were uncovered. Blood from a recently failed experience still seeped out of his mouth, dripping onto the new bandages around his mouth and the pillow beneath his head. The ears and inside of his mouth were rotting away, and his body was a sickly brown and black color from the extensive necrosis that was plaguing his body. Seeing her oldest brother in that condition saddened her.

She locked eyes with him before asking softly, so that only he could hear, "Did it help? Do you feel a little bit better?"

His voice came out in a nearly inaudible grating rasp as he replied, "Yes… I feel… a little bit stronger…" and coughing quietly at the end.

She waited for his fit to subside. "That's good. Have you… considered leaving Assiah for now, until we can make you a suitable replacement…?"

"Never!" he shouted, before dissolving into another bout of coughing and blood erupting from his mouth. "I will never… I still have faith… that it will be my turn soon…"

She narrowed her eyes. "Very well," she replied, seeing for herself that he would cling to his material body even if it killed him. She left his bedside and went to Dragulesc. "He is very stubborn."

The doctor nodded. "Yes, and it puts all the more pressure on us. Come, let us show you what we are working on right now."

With a last look at her brother Lucifer, Azrael turned and followed Dragulesc out of the room to the labs, where she would be helping further the program. He showed her around the lab, which was crowded, filled with papers, binders, shelves, and various high-tech equipment. At a glance, it appeared that there was a sort of organized chaos to the place. Upon closer inspection, everything was meticulously organized down to the letter. (She still had no clue how they found anything.)

In one section was what appeared to be an office, which had dozens of binders lining a shelf. Large writing on the spine revealed them to be detailed reports of successes and failures. She had never been to this section before, only to the materials storage room and briefly made a couple visits to the test area.

Therewas a door leading down a set of stairs to the massive experiment room, filled with dozens of beds. That was the place where they tested all the elixirs and their prototypes on the clones. She knew the effects that the tests had on the clones. She had seen firsthand that the hellish tests either outright killed the test subjects or completely stripped them of their sanity. It couldn't be justified in any other way other than that it was for the greater good. Have thousands of subjects killed, or have the world end at the hands of an angry king. 

For the next three years, Azrael aided Dragulesc and continued gathering regenerative materials at Mephisto's request, and the Elixir Research Program flourished. There were fewer failures, and stronger elixirs were produced, strengthening Lucifer and reversing the effects of the necrosis until his skin was almost whole again and his body nearly back to its original state. He was still waiting for a new vessel, which still had not been delivered. 

After the fourth year of helping Draculesc with the Elixir Research Program, Azrael's vessel had begun to expire, and she retired to her room on her side of Faust Mansion, where Mephisto saw to her needs personally despite her protests of him being too busy to care for her and that he should be focusing on other work. A year later, the day came when she bid her brothers in Assiah farewell until she could find a suitable replacement.

"I keep telling you…" she scolded, leaning her head back to rest against the pillows that were surrounding her. "You don't have to take care of me until I leave. You're too busy, and you don't have the time; you're running on fumes right now…"

"Ah, but Azrael, I have all the time in the world!" he joked.

"Hardy ha," said his sister sarcastically, but good naturedly, before great coughs wracked her body and sent a glob of semi-congealed blood into her mouth.

Mephisto leaned over and wiped the blood dripping from his sister's mouth. "I believe you will have to leave that vessel very soon. I will see if we can make another for you."

"Yes," she agreed, sounding a bit garbled due to the blood dripping down her throat. "It seems I will have to go for a time… This vessel has reached its limit, but it has served me well for a hundred years." A pained smirk managed to creep onto her face. "While you're getting a vessel for me, don't forget that Lucifer is your priority. Do you think you'll be able to manage Section 13 without him blowing up on you?"

Mephisto let out a huff of laughter at her snarkiness, but let a small and sad smile through. "I hope so. I will have to go and collect the materials myself now. Thank you for helping me with that for so many years."

"Ah, it was no trouble. It was a good excuse to look for my mate." Azrael's pain-clouded eyes met Mephisto's. "Have you found any trace of yours?"

He broke eye contact with her and looked down at his hands, intertwined with his sister's colder ones. "No, I just haven't had the time. Making sure Lucifer doesn't destroy this place takes precedence over searching for them…"

She smiled in sympathy. "I understand. Hopefully both of ours are out there and we haven't missed them yet." She weakly squeezed her brother's hand in assurance. "Now… I do believe that it is about time I relinquish my possession of this body."

Mephisto nodded. "Go safely."

"I will. Take care, Samael."

"You as well, dear Azrael." He rested his forehead against hers, and she smiled at the gesture.

Azrael rubbed Samael's hand with her thumb before closing her eyes and taking as deep a breath that she could manage. When she exhaled, her body became as still as a corpse, until a black shroud enveloped her body, rippling in an invisible and unfelt breeze. It swirled around her, until it condensed into a pitch black will-o'-the-wisp and burned away to Gehenna.

He sat there for a time, before snapping a white sheet onto her body that drifted down to cover her. Wiping a single tear from his eye, he allowed himself one last look before shutting the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the whole thing was a little bit stilted—especially the dialogue. I tried to make it smooth buuuut, I'm not sure I really succeeded. I'll try to make it better next chapter. Also, I know the perspective jumped around a bit, but I guess that's to be expected, 'cause I haven't gotten going yet. Or something. Idk
> 
> Also, in case you’re wondering why Azrael is so undemanding, it’s mostly because she is an omega, so she naturally wants to care for others, and also because she just doesn’t care about ordering people around when she doesn’t have to.
> 
> Anyways, thank you for reading! Stay for the next chapter, and I love you all! 💜💜


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This will follow the events with Yuri leading up to the Blue Night, and take place earlier than the previous chapter. It will include a couple scene directly from the manga, so spoilers, but to doesn't reveal anything crucial in my opinion, so it's okay to read even if you've haven't gotten to the Blue Night Arc in the manga/anime (I dunno if they're there in the anime yet, I only read the manga). This will be from the perspective of mostly Mephisto, but also a bit of Yuri's and Shiro's.

**30 years until the Blue Night**

A man's voice echoed throughout the old factory that the group of four were using as their home. "Yuri! Yuri! You shouldn't be wandering around this late! It's time to eat!"

A little girl looked up from where she was piddling around looking at old abandoned materials in another section of the factory. There were a whole bunch of old materials in the back that were useful for building forts out of, though she would have to be careful to make sure it didn't collapse on her when she crawled inside whatever structure she made. She got up from where she was poking around and turned towards the voice.

"Okaaay!" she called back, before running to sit at the fire with the rest of her family.

"Don't forget your cup," reminded a kindly-looking middle-aged woman, who was already doling out portions to the other two gathered around the cooking pot. The girl ran to get it, before returning and getting her own portion of noodles and broth. "Yuri, you shouldn't wander around after dark. How many times have Oku and I told you?"

"Sorry, Niko…" Yuri looked down at her cup of food.

"That's right," chided Oku. "There're dangerous people about at night." He looked to the woman sitting to his left. "They might gouge your eye out like they did to Obaba!"

At that, Obaba laughed, making the bird on her head let out a cheep. "Yahaha!!! I kinda like it though! Makes me feel cool like a pirate!"

That made Yuri laugh so hard she almost dropped her food, even if she only had a vague idea what a pirate was from the children's books she read. Oku protested, "It's not funny! Human beings are one thing, but…" his face darkened, "there are _worse_ things that crawl out of the darkness!"

Yuri blinked. Niko, who saw Yuri's confusion, helpfully supplied, "Oku and Obaba used to be exorcists."

Yuri let out a snort and pursed her lips. "I ain't scared of ghosts!"

Obaba grinned a nearly toothless grin at the girl. "Yuri, there are monsters that are far worse than people!" She leaned down a little bit to look Yuri dead in the eyes. "That is because they reveal the human heart!"

Yuri brightened before saying, "No problem! Just the other day, I met a blue fireball, but I wasn't afraid at all!"

Oku and Obaba shared a look, narrowing their eyes at each other as they had a brief and silent conversation. Obaba let out a hum of thought as Oku asked, just to make sure he heard correctly, "A blue fireball?"

Yuri nodded. "Yeah!"

Obaba's eyes widened slightly. "That was a _Rinka_."

Oku slowly chewed on his noodles while Yuri made a questioning sound while chewing. "A Rinka?" she asked with her mouth full. A faint "Don't speak with food in your mouth" came from Niko.

A nod. "It is a spectral flame seen all over the world. Demon-fire, Azul, Irrlicht, will-o'-the-wisp, _Ignis Fatuus_ … It has many names."

Yuri's eyes sparkles. "What _is_ it?"

"No one knows," Obaba chuckled. "Some say dead souls, others say the fires of hell…"

"Yikes," Niko cringed.

"...while others say they're goblins and fairies and the temporary forms of sacred foxes."

Yuri leaned all the way forward and nearly fell off her chair in excitement, mouth open and gaping. " _Really?_ " She smiled. "AWESOME!!! I hope they're fairies or foxes! That way I can be friends with them!"

Oku's eye twitched, and he scolded Obaba for planting strange ideas in Yuri's head. "Obaba! Stop that! If you tell her any more, you'll turn her into a weirdo like you!"

"Oh, let up, Oku!" Obaba playfully slapped his knee with a bony and wrinkled hand. "Weirdos have more fun than uptight people like you!"

And so the conversation continued around the crackling fire and soup pot, until everyone had eaten what they were given, and the leftovers put in a safe location in Niko's hut. They sat around the fire, until it had dimmed down a little bit. The adults sat around in silence, drinking their coffee while Yuri read through a children's book. Eventually, she began to fall asleep, and was beckoned over by Oku so that she could lay her head on his lap. Within minutes, she was sound asleep.

Oku looked down and sighed fondly, taking a sip of his coffee before saying, "She needs to start school soon…"

Niko let out a sound similar to one a parent makes when they realize their child has grown up right before their eyes in a flash. "She's growing up so fast!" A sniff. "Oku, she was just a newborn babe when you found her lying in the junkyard and brought her back."

"Yeah…"

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, before Neko broke the quiet.

"Hey, Oku," a grunt of acknowledgement came from said person, and she continued, "you still have your exorcist's license, don't you? Ever think about working again?"

He didn't answer, gazing into the fire with a distance and thoughtful look on his face.

"I would work if my eyes were better, but…" she sighed. "You two could rent a house and live on your own!"

Unbeknownst to them, Yuri had woken slightly, roused by the faint notion of being separated from part of her family.

"No…" Oku shook his head, dismissing the idea. "It took all of us to raise her. Besides… being together like this is more fun anyways."

Glad they would be able to stay together, Yuri closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep, a small smile on her face.

"But I'll look into it," continued Oku, before jokingly saying, "At this rate, she'll end up like Obaba!"

Obaba laughed heartily, adding, "Yeah, that's right! We need someone to carry on my legacy, ha!"

Small discussion was passed around late into the night, before they extinguished the fire and bid each other goodnight. Oku gently picked up Yuri and tucked her into the makeshift bed, making sure not to wake her. The fire was still smoking a bit, so Niko was staying next to it for a bit more to make sure it went out completely. Without the fire, it was much colder, and the factory was silent, save for the barely audible patter of giant snowflakes hitting the roof above that would echo down. When the sun rose, the few people who owned motorized vehicles in the slums would drive by, acting as an alarm clock for those living nearby. 

An especially loud motorcycle revving woke Yuri from her rest. She in turn woke up Oku, who sleepily acknowledged her shout that she was going to play close by. She ran off to another section of the factory, one that had piles of trash that must have risen at least 40 feet into the air. All of the trash was precariously balanced, and removing one wrong thing could send the whole pile tumbling down. It had a lot of old toys and such, so she often, like today, got together some stuffed animals and dolls and played house. Today, she decided to simulate a guest coming to the house.

"Knock knock!" Yuir said, moving a doll to make it appear that it was walking up to an invisible door. "Hello!" she answered herself in a different voice, mimicking the host, an old raggedy stuffed bear, that would answer the guest. "Welcome to our house!" She grabbed an old teapot. "I just made coffee," she said in the bear's voice, "wait right here." She grabbed an old can, set it in front of the doll, and began pouring, making the sounds of a pot pouring coffee. 

Suddenly, a flare of blue erupted from underneath the can, and she cried out in shock, dropping the teapot with a clang. She dumbly watched the can roll away from her, before she said quietly, "It's here… Rinka..?" An idea came to her mind, and she ran to the base of one of the trash heaps, and grabbed seven pencil stubs, setting them upright. She brushed the hair out of her face, exclaiming, "There! How about this?" A moment later, another flare of blue sent the pencil shooting away. A big grin overtook her face. "Wah! That's so cool!" She continued setting up games for Rinka, playing for hours until Oku called her away.

"It's dangerous! You shouldn't play here."

"Okay…" Yuri turned around, quietly whispering, "Bye bye!" before running to Oku.

"What were you doing?"

"Just playing house" she responded.

"Well, be careful. If all that junk collapsed, you'd be buried alive."

"Wha—but there's so much fun stuff here!" protested Yuri.

"I know, but you must watch out for yourself. Obaba, Niko, and I won't always be here to watch out for you."

* * *

And one day in the future, Obaba, Niko, and Oku suddenly weren't there to watch out for Yuri anymore. She had gone to get some rice from that harsh vendor a couple of streets away one evening, and returned later than expected. On the way, she had seen Rinka down one street, and had gone chasing after it, only to wind up lost. Several sirens going by had caught her attention, and she followed them all the way back to the factory she called home.

The home that was currently covered in red, all consuming flames.

A large crowd of people were gathered in front of the blaze, murmuring over the roar of the fire. Parents were talking amongst themselves over what may have caused the fire. The running idea was that some homeless people had a fire and fell asleep over it, and then it went out of control and began burning down the factory. Some children who were with their parents were excitedly looking on, saying things like "Firetrucks are so cool!" and "It's like a big warm bonfire!" and laughing, not understanding the gravity of the situation. 

Another said, "Burn! Burn!!!" which was exactly what Yuri felt like her life was doing. 

Burning.

She pushed her way to the front of the crowd, yelling "OKU!!! NIKO!!! OBABA!!!" only to be held back from finding her family by a firefighter who told her to stay away from the blaze. She fought against his hold, watching with teary and horrified eyes as her life burned. Eventually, she gave up struggling and just limply sat on the ground as the fire was extinguished bit by bit.

It was early in the morning by the time the remnant of flames had been doused and the last firetruck pulled away. Snow was falling steadily, and the interior was now covered in a thin layer of snow, as the roof had caved in when the building sustained too much damage. Exhausted, she toddled over to the center of the ruins of her former home.

Right where the fire and cooking pot would be rested Oki's charred coffee cup, filling up with snow. She fell to her knees, sniffling and shivering, as she held the cup to her heart. She laid down and stayed there for some time, ignoring some sympathetic comments and other disgusted ones, until her stomach let out a loud rumble.

"I'm hungry…" she whimpered. Slowly rising, she wandered over to the harsh rice vendor. _'He probably won't give me anything, but I guess it's worth a try…'_ She waited her turn in line, and when she got to the front, she looked up and meekly asked, "Um… can I have some rice?"

The vendor took one look at her face, tears and snot frozen all over it, and immediately turned her away. "Shoo! Shoo! Piss off! Filthy brat!" he yelled, waving his hand as if he were warding off a bothersome gnat. "If you ain't got money, get lost!" She lingered, and he drove her away by dumping a pot of hot rice water all over her.

She trudged on, becoming rather tired, already frozen, and her clothes starting to ice over from the water she was doused with. After going an unknown distance, for an unknown amount of time, she came upon an old cellar. 'Maybe I can stay there…' Staggering over to it, she raised the cover, only to find it was already inhabited. The raised portion was made into a makeshift bed, the covered neatly folded. By the bed was a pile of complicated books and magazines with skimpily clad girls on the cover. "Niko says these are "dirty" magazines…" she said, turning over to the back cover before putting it back where she found it. Then she turned around, and before her was a whole pile of…

"FOOD!" She stared at the pile debating for a whole entire second whether or not to eat it before digging into a bag that she picked up. (She apologized profusely the entire time.) After devouring the whole bag, she sat on the bed to wait for whoever lived there. She tried to stay awake, nodding off, until with a thwump she fell over asleep on the bed. By the time she was woken up, the sunlight was streaming in through the cracks in the hideout's cover. A figure was trudging down the ladder leading inside.

"You…" he hissed, wrinkling his nose in disdain. "What're you doing in my hideout?! I'll _kill_ you!"

He glanced outside to make sure he wasn't being followed as Yuri answered, bowing her head, "I'm sorry… I'm Yuri, my whole family died, so… I don't have anywhere to go…"

"Whaddo _I_ care?! Don't expect any type of sympathy from _me_!" He roughly shoved her aside to get to the food stash. "Get out of here before I kill you!"

Yuri backed up a bit from the guy who was muttering about how she ate a whole bag of his chips, pointing out, "But… it's cold outside, and I'll die."

He turned back around, sneering at her. "So _die_. I couldn't care less!"

She stared at him in utter shock, before she sputtered out, "Y… You're… You're the YUKIOTOKO!!!"

Clear confusion painted itself across the Yukiotoko's face. "Huh?!"

"Yeah! Obaba says he's pure white and super tall and cold and terrifying!" she elaborated and pointed an accusatory finger at the person. "Just like YOU!!! You could let me stay until the snow stops, but you're too _mean_!!!"

"But what's in it for me?!" he asked incredulously. "I built this to be a hiding place, I can't have other people hanging around!"

"Well…" Yuri held up one of those magazines. "I saw you've got dirty magazines, so…"

The Yukiotoko snatched the magazine from her hands. "Don't look at that!" he snapped.

"But, you _like_ stuff like that, right?"

"Shut _up_ about it!!!"

"I know a place where there's a bunch of dirty old mags!" She waved her hands about. "When the snow stops in the morning, I'll take you! So let me stay here! You wanted a _benefit_ , right?" 

The Yukiotoko grumbled for a bit, but ultimately gave in. He went down and sat on his bed, shivering and complaining about the cold. At first, she was confused. Wasn't the Yukiotoko supposed to never get cold? Or maybe he just never got warm enough? Oh, well, whatever. She was too tired to think, and all the walking on an empty stomach had taken a lot out of her.

Yuri felt sympathetic and snuggled close to him to stay warm. He immediately freaked out and scooted away. After some consolation from Yuri and assurances that it would be much warmer to stick together, he heaved a sigh and settled for having her cling to him. He stared at her for a few peaceful moments, before the sound of footsteps running hit his ears.

Suddenly black, ghostly dog with glowing eyes burst through the tin cover of the hideout and landed inside with a crash. Yuri let out a surprised sound at the intrusion, while the Yukiotoko's eyes momentarily filled with despair before he gave a resigned sigh.

"We've found you!" said one of the men while the black dog growled. "Don't bother resisting, Shiro!"

"All right, fine," relented boy. He had been caught, like all the other times he had ran away from that hellhole of a facility. When a month had passed, and he'd evaded capture for long enough, he finally let himself hope he'd be able to get away for good this time. He'd probably jinxed himself.

The man looked around the Shiro's hideout. "Nice hideout you got here. Is this where you've been since you slipped away?" Silence answered him. "You're the only one from the Azazel group to do this. And-" he whipped the blanket the Yuri was hiding under off of her "-who's the girl?"

This time Shiro did answer. "I dunno," he said flatly. "Just some homeless kid who snuck in."

The dog growled at Yuri, and she leaned away from it, trying her best to not make herself a target. "Hey, uh… doggy?"

That elicited a reaction from both men who came in. "You can see this black dog?"

Yuri looked bewildered as the man who had remained silent most of the time spoke up. "If she can see demons, _that_ changes everything. Take her back to Asylum and get her checked out," he ordered.

Shiro and Yuri were rounded up and sat in the backseat of a van to be taken to this Asylum place. Yuri clung to the sleeve of Shiro's jacket, looking out of the van window. She finally spoke up. "Asylum? What's that place like? Is it nice?"

"No," came the short answer from Shiro, "it's _horrible._ " He looked away from her. "You've got rotten luck kid."

She looked out just in time to see the silhouette of a massive collection of structures seemingly built into a conical mountain surrounded by water. Small specks of lights lit it up like an empty night sky. A train pulled out of the station and went along a bridge out of Yuri's line of sight.

There it was.

Asylum, the exorcist school that acted as a front for a program full of clones, elixirs, and human experiments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was literally chapter 100 of the manga. Hate to take it directly, but it was kinda crucial to my timeline, so no regrets, but I hope I didn't infringe too many copyrights lol. I didn't have a whole lot of side stories or plot, but there will be a few in the next chapter. Fun fun fun, I'm looking forward to it!
> 
> Thank you for your support! Stay for the next chapter, and I love you all! 💜💜


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, since this is father in the past, Azrael is still here. Please refer to the timeline if you're confused. Gonna be moving on in the timeline, so when I skip years I'll add the "X years until the Blue Night" thing so nothing weird happens.
> 
> Thank you for sticking with this so far! Suggestions and stuff are welcome and all that. Please enjoy this chapter!
> 
> And yeet skedeet S P O I LE R S

**30 years until the Blue Night**

Mephisto stared blankly at his phone where he had just gotten a call from the two exorcists who were sent out to fetch Shiro, the experimental subject number Ao-004 Azazel group, who had a seriously annoying knack for slipping past the guards and escaping.

 _'I still can't believe he got away. Again. What are those guards even doing?!'_ He groaned, rubbing his fingers over his temples while giving an exasperated stare at his sister who was sitting on the back of the couch across from his desk.

Azrael sighed, moving to pat her brother's arm in consolation. "Well, at least they found him, y'know?"

"True." He could give them that, he supposed.

"And it was partly thanks to me that you did it," she said smugly. "Aren't you glad I sent one of my Black Dogs with them?"

"Yes, that was a great help. I'm surprised that you never suggested it earlier."

"You never asked," she said, giving a classic reply to his remark, which earned her a mock gasp of offense. "But you _must_ admit that you do enjoy toying with your pawns, don't you? Especially him."

Mephisto hummed and got a smirk on his face. "Yes, I do. I think he'll make a great pawn. He is _quite_ intriguing, and has quite the future in for him."

"I must agree."

"And he brought a little girl with him, of all people. Yuri Egin…" He smirked. "She's going to be quite the exorcist in later years, I believe. Both of them are."

"Well, you have all the possible timelines stuffed in that head of yours. If you see potential in them for the future, I'll believe you."

A knock sounded at the door. "Ah, that must be the subject being delivered. Enter!" he called, and the door opened.

"Pardon the intrusion," the messenger apologized and hastily moved the subject just inside the office. "I've brought the subject you requested."

"Thank you. You may go now," dismissed Mephisto, before addressing the young teenager standing in front of the door. Azrael hopped onto the windowsill to the left of the desk to watch the show play out. "So… you're Shiro, experimental subject number Ao-004 in the Azazel group!"

The boy remained silent, but his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. _'Yes, he's a feisty one…'_ observed Azrael.

"Come closer," ordered Mephisto, and Shiro unwillingly complied. "I hear you often slip past the guards to escape Section 13. You even had a refuge in the slums." He chuckled, "Intriguing… You're the first subject to do that of any cloning group. They also found thirty thousand yen in your hideout. How did you manage to come by that?"

Azrael smirked as Shiro grew visibly irritated with Mephisto. He tch'd. "I didn't steal it! I sold parts and did odd jobs like cleaning… and just saved up."

 _'Yeah, right. Just saved up, my ass.'_ Azrael rolled her eyes.

Her brother's fake honey tone when he said, "That must have been difficult. You're just a child," said that he didn't believe the kid either. "Well, the world is a harsh place. Wouldn't it be easier just to get along quietly here?"

"Yeah," agreed Shiro. "The world's a _trash heap_. But it's better than Section 13! When I saved up money, I was gonna escape here, and go far away, and be free! Instead of living here in isolation with a bunch of guys who look like me…" He looked at Mephisto with hatred, and venomously hissed, "... _I'd rather die!_ "

Mephisto closed his eyes. "I see…"

"So now what?"

"Huh?" Opened his right one to give Shiro a one-eyed stare.

Shiro threateningly (to him, anyways, because to the two demon kings it was like a newborn kitten trying to intimidate a lion) stepped towards Mephisto's desk. "You gonna kill me? Aren't you director of Section 13, _Mephisto Pheles_?"

There was a beat of dead silence, before both demons in the room busted a gut laughing. Azrael snorted and covered her mouth to muffle her voice as she closed her eyes to keep tears of laughter from slipping out. This kid was so fucking _funny_. Mephisto was right. This Shiro would be so much more interesting to watch in the future years. ' _Yes, I will have to keep an especially good eye on him and see what other antics he gets up to in the future.'_

"WAHAHAHA!!! You crack me up!" roared Mephisto, beating his desk. "You…" he snorted, "really _are_ intriguing!"

Both were laughing far too hard to hear the next couple of words that slipped out of Shiro's mouth. The next thing either of them knew, the boy was up on Mephisto's desk, grabbing his pink and white polkadot tie and yanking him forward until they were inches apart. His key-shaped tie bar clinked as the chain swayed uselessly from Mephisto's tie. Neither of them had even finished laughing as soon as it all happened, and both pairs of eyes widened imperceptibly in surprise.

"-MAKE ME AN EXWIRE!!!" was the first thing they registered. Shiro began violently shaking Mephisto back and forth, his head whipping forward and backward so fast Azrael swore she practically saw afterimages.

"Every fifteen years, each test group raises an exwire! And this year, Group Az hasn't chosen yet! And I fit the criteria, so choose me!" He gave Mephisto another shake just for emphasis. "As an exwire, I'll only have to be in experiments once a year! And when I'm an _exorcist_ … I get to live on my own! And when I'm paladin… I'll be rolling in status, money, honor and _BIG BOO_ -I mean _WOMEN_!!!"

 _'This kid is fifteen,'_ thought Mephisto and Azrael simultaneously. _'How does he even know he likes that?'_

"But most importantly… I'LL BE FREE!!! You created me to save people from demons, but _no thanks_." He pulled Mephisto closer until he was practically breathing in his nose. The king of time wondered if the boy had even considered that saving people from demons was one of the roles being an exorcist encompassed. "I'm not going out as some demonic sacrifice!"

The two stayed in that position for several seconds, Shiro breathing harshly through his nose after his tirade. Azrael snickered and Shiro shot her a glare. She looked at him condescendingly and gave a barking laugh. "You're so ignorant and stupid!" Shiro snarled in response. "Becoming paladin isn't a ticket of freedom. Make sure to drill that into your thick head."

Mephisto elaborated, his eyes gleaming. "When you become an exwire, you'll sign a Contract of Morinath forbidding you from leaking any information about Section 13--and your _life_ is the collateral! The training is gruelling, and former test subjects _never_ leave the organization alive! Even if you make paladin, you'll swear fealty to the Order and be its _dog_!" He chuckled darkly, getting a predatory grin on his face. "You'll _never_ be free!"

"Then bring it on. I'm gonna kill every demon I see. And I'll kill and kill until I'm Paladin…" Shiro looked up with a slightly insane look in his eyes. "And when my owners are finally done using me, I'm gonna tear out your throat with my teeth!"

Azrael and Mephisto both looked Shiro straight in the eyes. It was funny how he panicked for a millisecond when he didn't know where to look, but decided on Azrael, who grinned at him.

"Sounds _fun_ ," she said smoothly.

"Very well then!" Mephisto leaned back when Shiro relinquished his grip on his tie and spread his arms out in a grand motion. "I'll recommend you for exwire."

Shiro was shocked at how easy it seemed to get the director to agree. Unbeknownst to him, the two demons were toying with him out of amusement and nudging him along to the best possible timeline.

"However… there is _one_ condition." He pointed to Shiro's chest. "If you yield to a demon even once, you have to grant me one favor. Anything I ask!"

"Huh? Whatever. I accept," said the boy naively. When he got to the door, he turned back around to face them. "You _better_ keep your promises!!!" And then he slammed the door shut.

"My, my…" Azrael looked towards her brother. "Quite the feisty one. Brash, too."

"Most definitely. No one who knows my reputation would willingly agree so easily to my proposition."

"Ah, well, at least it lets you do literally anything you want. You made no binding agreement except to recommend him for exwire, anyways."

"Yes, I wonder if he caught that…"

"None of higher-ups would trust your manipulative ass on its own with anything unless they ruled out all the ways you can go around them."

"And then my beautifully 'manipulative ass' would still find a way."

"Your 'manipulative ass' _always_ finds a way."

"It really does." He flipped his hair back off of his shoulder. "Aren't you proud?"

"Wow, I'm just—wow—so proud." She let out a fake sniff and wiped away an invisible tear. "My little baby brother has accomplished so much in his life."

Mephisto let out a laugh. "I hope so! I've had thousands of years to get things accomplished."

"And you've been up to your games for a thousand years. How long has it been since you became the headmaster of the academy?"

"Hmm, a century or so, maybe two? It's unlike me to not know, but time passes ever so quickly when you're having fun. And speaking of fun, the little Asylum students are going on their first mission with the other exorcists today. I have a feeling it won't really go the way the teachers planned. Would you like to come help make sure no hobgoblins kill any of my precious students?" 

He handed Azrael a copy of the mission, which had population estimates for the nest, weapon counts, supplies, the levels of demons that would be present, and more. Azrael noticed the estimates guessed the highest level to be there would be mid-level. It was… odd to have that be the highest ranking demon in a nest of that size be only mid-level. She was two hundred percent sure that Mephisto had noticed this and let it go just to have some fun.

"I'm sure you know _exactly_ what's going to happen, but _just_ to humor you, I _might_ go with you. I'm not even sure why you invited me—you're perfectly capable of dealing with this flub on your own."

"Well, yes, I know, but just for fun?"

" _Fine._ "

"Thank you. Are you ready to go?" Mephisto looked at Azrael's clothes. "Ah, and you may want to wear your combat uniform."

"Really, now?" Azrael raised an eyebrow, snapping her finger so that her uniform changed to her more maneuverable outfit with pants and a shorter jacket. The jacket had a rectangular opening between the shoulders. "Things must be getting dicey, then. Are you sure you won't lose any of your precious students?"

He put a finger to his chin in mock thought. "Yes, I'm sure everyone will be alright. But you might want to show off a bit, so there's no point in ripping up a perfectly good uniform."

"Alrighty. Well, snap when you're ready."

"Einz, zwei, drei!" And with a poof they were sitting on a pink couch floating in the air above where the group was approaching a hobgoblin nest.

A hundred feet or so below, instructors were passing out miniature holy water grenades to throw at the entrance that would kill off some of the smaller hobgoblins that would run out first. The exwires and middle class exorcists would take care of the larger ones. The group leader took a small vial of blood, opened it, and poured it in the ground. A full minute passed before the first wave of hobgoblins came bounding out of their nest in the cave. They took one look at the exorcists surrounding them before they were drenched with holy water at the instructor's call. The grenades' contents ate away at several of the smaller ones, effectively putting them off the list of hazards. The others were killed out with a shot between the eyes by the dragoons.

Another wave poured out, this one stronger than the first. Another portion of those were dealt with by another round of holy water grenades, and some got through the round of shots, which a couple of knights handily wiping them out. Five minutes later, a person was out of ammunition. Three minutes later, about half of their dragoons had run out of bullets and the holy water grenade supply had been exhausted. And more demons were still coming. It was quickly becoming apparent to those in the fray that they had underestimated the size and power of this nest.

A portion of the cave's side collapsed, and high mid-level demons poured through. A couple of the exorcists yelled about how demons of this level weren't supposed to be there. The group got flanked by the demons, and the exorcists drew the younger students into a tight circle to protect them. They eventually backed up far enough that the mass of hobgoblins had formed a single, vicious group.

"If I let it go like this, you'll have the death of a whole team on your hands, and that's the last thing you need to deal with on top of everything else. I know you predicted this would happen, but could I go down there and help them out?"

"Hmmm, it _does_ look like they're in dire straits down there." Mephisto looked down in mock concern.

"I won't be screwing up any of your timelines by doing this, will I?"

"Oh no, not at all."

"Great, cause I was going to do it whether you said yes or no. I guess it's time to show off." She smirked and gave a two-fingered salute. " _Au revoir_!"

She leapt down, releasing enough of her power to let her arms from the elbow down become covered sleek, jet-black scales and her fingers to be tipped with wickedly sharp claws. Obsidian wings sprouted from her back and through the open back of the jacket, slowing her descent a fraction.

She landed heavily on her feet before slamming her claws into the ground, causing long, thick spikes to erupt upwards and out of the demons' shadows, impaling essentially all of them before exploding. The ones who were not hit were the higher level ones who evaded before retreating back into their cave in fear. She launched after all of them, cleanly slicing every single one apart in a couple seconds.

Azrael huffed to herself, before turning to the group of exorcists she had just saved. The whole group was on edge, and about half of the kids looked scared out of their minds. The other half just looked at her like she was the coolest thing ever, as if they hadn't just been face-to-face with death at the claws of an angry hobgoblin horde. The instructor and a couple of the older exorcists at least knew who she was and didn't look ready to split her open on a sword. 

"Lady Tiamut…" The instructor sighed in relief. "I'm not sure I want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't showed up when you did. We are so, so grateful."

"It was nothing," Azrael dismissed, waving a hand at them that had returned to a normal human-looking one. "I'm just glad everything turned out alright. Are the kids okay? This must have been quite the first demonic experience for them."

Another exorcist spoke up. "They'll be alright, definitely more scared of demons now that this happened, but I'm sure it was… quite educational on what could go wrong during a mission."

She snorted. "I'll bet. Just make sure no more close calls like that happen anytime soon."

"We'll try our best," answered the instructor. "We should have double-checked the information before leaving."

"That would have been wise. There is no use to endanger lives when it could have been prevented. It would be tragic if a whole class of students was lost. Goodness knows how much that would damage our reputation as a school for disadvantaged children if we can't even keep them safe on a field trip."

The instructor's ears flushed pink at the tips, and, sufficiently shamed by their blunder, bowed and instructed the group to move out and go back to the school.

"I'm glad you could handle that. I was _quite_ busy." Mephisto sighed in fake exhaustion.

"I'm sure. It must be _so_ taxing to sit back and watch me deal with the situation," Azrael sarcastically said. "And I feel rather insulted that you would doubt my abilities. I have to keep track of everything that goes on in Gehenna within my territory and in Lucifer's, since he is rather… indisposed right now. With all the work I have to do, I hope I can at least deal with a group of exorcists almost getting themselves killed due to a miscalculation."

"Yes, yes, of course. I never doubted you for a second." 

"I know."

"Now, there is much work to be done, so I must head back to my office."

"If you had stuff to do, why didn't you just tell me to look after the baby chicks and you work?!" She paused. "Nevermind, you have _literally_ all the time in the world."

"I do. Now, ta ta!" he sang and poofed away.

Azrael rolled her eyes and popped over to her own office to do some work of her own.

* * *

**25 years until the Blue Night**

_'Really???'_

Azrael needed some coffee. Black, shot of espresso. She did not have time for this. The fucking leaders were taking the newest Asylum class into the forest to kill a freaking high mid-level ent, and all they had to back them up were the newest class of exwires and some exorcists. Were they really trying to pull off another stunt five years after the whole team almost died on the hobgoblin mission?

_Yes. They were._

She thought that the new instructor would know better. Guess she thought wrong.

And they had the baby chicks armed with the torches with the riskiest job of setting fire to the roots, right where the ent could take a root to a kid's head and bash it right in. Freaking hell, did they _really_ not value the kids' lives? She supposed that was her maternal omegan instincts kicking in, though. Regardless, she had really better assist in this mission, whether Samael liked it or not. Screw all the timelines, she wasn't letting any kids die. _Especially_ Yuri. 

She'd watched the girl grow from afar and saw she'd already had a massive talent for exorcisms and dealing with demons, and she was not about to let that potential go to waste. And maybe she had gotten a bit too invested in the girl, but sue her. She had always wanted a kid, her own or not, to look out for. She had spoken to Yuri several times and had grown to love her like Yuri was her own daughter. She always warned herself not to get too attached to anyone, except those she was sure would never leave. Bonding with humans (except her soulmate, who would hopefully be with her forever) was just a way to pass the time. Their lifetimes were like a blink compared to her and her siblings' eternities. So, she was determined to keep Yuri safe and loved to the best of her abilities, even if her life would pass in a twinkle. At the moment, that meant crashing the party to watch out for Yuri.

She leaned back in her desk chair and sighed.

"Off to the instructor, I suppose, to tell them I'm joining."

She heaved herself out of her chair, and snapped to Asylum's main office to speak with the instructor. She knocked and walked in to find the instructor reading over student reports and buried in mission summaries. A little name plate on the corner of his unorganized desk read "Student Instructor" in gold letters on a black background. Upon hearing the door creak open, he straightened his glasses and looked up.

"Ah! Lady Tiamut. What can I do for—"

"I am joining you on the students' first mission today." Her tone of finality left no room for argument.

The instructor looked a bit bewildered before he got a look of realization on his face. "Oh! Sure, that sounds alright. Is there… any particular reason why?"

"Well, there happens to be a student in that mission who I have been keeping an eye on, and she has plenty of potential. I'm sure you're familiar with her, right? Yuri Egin?"

"Ah, yes! She is such a bright student, excelling in all of her studies. I can certainly agree that she has plenty of potential. She is fortunate to have such a…" he looked at her with a critical eye, "... prestigious figure watching out for her." 

She narrowed her eyes slightly, knowing exactly what the instructor was thinking. Some people in the Order had less than favorable opinions on having demons so high up in the hierarchy.

"Alright, so you understand my point. I have seen that you are positioning the younger students at the roots." The instructor nodded. "That is a risky position, since the roots can cause permanent harm to the students if they are too close when it lashes out. Because of this I would like to be Yuri's personal instructor for her Exploratory Course to keep her safe for this mission, as well as all of her Demonology classes afterwards, until she graduates from the Asylum program."

The instructor hummed, looking thoughtful. "How would the school benefit from this? She is such an intelligent student, we would hate to lose her unless we knew she was in better hands than the teachers here."

 _'This is blatant descrimination against demons. I get we're not loved by everyone, but what happened to the respect for authority? Are they teaching children here to have a prejudice against those with demon blood?'_ She sneered, letting her goody-two-shoes facade slip. The original plan had been to be more diplomatic, but she was through dealing with this jerk. "I think you know enough about my position and history to know I am qualified to teach a single student. I think the question is if _you_ are qualified to be leading the students with that kind of attitude towards higher-ups."

"I am perfectly capable of leading the _human_ students, _demon_."

Azrael growled at him, and snapped Yuri's paper into her hand and changed it so that now Yuri was under her protection.

"Well, _human_ , she is now in my care, whether you like it or not. No matter the species or blood, if they are in power over you they should at least be outwardly respected." She turned her back towards him and slowly walked towards the door. "I don't believe that disrespect towards authority is something you should be teaching the children. Should you not amend your behavior I will see that Mephisto can find a more suitable replacement."

The man paled slightly and Azrael smirked, knowing that loss of a job was a threat that was quite effective with the prideful. That aside, she had a mission that began at five o'clock, so that was a couple hours away. According to Yuri's schedule, she was now in her Exploratory Course: Demons. It was an extremely simple (and rather uninformative, in Azrael's opinion) course with no demonic interaction at all. An exploratory class with no demons except for pictures of them was a bit useless, as it neglected to teach the students any substantial basics for application. She was sure she could provide Yuri with much higher quality hands-on experience, given her ability to summon literally anything within reason—like, she wouldn't summon Death just because.

She popped over to the room and her keen ears picked up on the lesson that was being taught: demon classifications. Good of a time as any; she could go grab Yuri and explain the situation as they walked down to the holding cells (that left a bad taste in her mouth, and seeing demons treated like mindless monsters made her want to tear something apart) so she could show Yuri how to better identify demons. Maybe get a lesson or two in on weaknesses of Amaimon's kin before going to go and exorcise that massive ent.

She knocked and an "In a minute!" came muffled from the other side. A moment later, a portly, middle-aged woman came to the door dressed in an exorcist uniform. Her eyes brightened, and she gave a beaming smile. "Lady Tiamut! What brings you here on this fine afternoon?" 

"Mrs. Lua." Azrael nodded in her direction. "I have important matters to attend to regarding a certain student in your class."

"Oh! No misbehaving, I hope?" Mrs. Lua seemed to realize that she had not yet invited Tiamut inside and that the poor person--well, demon, since Azrael's identity seemed to be more of an issue today--was still standing at the door, and hurriedly beckoned her in. "I'm sorry to leave you there. Come in, come in! Now, what did you need from my class?"

Tiamut glanced around before she laid her eyes on Yuri. "I would like to see Yuri Egin. I will be taking her under my wing as my personal student."

* * *

**25 years until the Blue Night**

Yuri was the subject of a majority of the rumors in her room. She was well respected, yes, but who she talked to was brought into question quite often. A group of students had seen her talking in a hallway to a tall, blue-gray haired figure in an exorcist uniform and thought they looked really important. She was also seen speaking to a white-haired older boy who was also an exorcist. Whispers flew around about any connections she may have had in the upper ranks.

Of course Yuri was aware of all of this, but she didn't really care. Sure, Shiro was a little prickly, and he acted like he was the bravest person in the world, but Yuri still thought he was really strong. Even if he pretended he didn't know her every single time she went to talk to him.

But she thought that Miss Tiamut was _really_ cool and _super_ strong (maybe even stronger than Shiro!). She knew a whole lot about demons, and Yuri thought that was _literally_ the best thing ever, because even if some demons were a little bit scary, all of them were really fascinating. The more she could learn about them, the better she could help everyone else.

She had gotten a some weird looks for her demonic fascination and idea that humans and demons shouldn't outright kill each other, since that went against the ideology of virtually all of her classmates, but Miss Tiamut respected her opinion and encouraged her to find a way to get along with all demons, even if some were harder to understand than others. She had gone to find Miss Tiamut several times, and each time they had talked about what Yuri wanted to talk about. She thought that was really considerate of her, since Yuri mostly listened to the other kids because they never gave her a chance to speak. Yuri had grown rather fond of her, and wished she could spend all of her time learning and having fun with Miss Tiamut.

So, when Yuri woke up on a perfectly ordinary day, she was going through her classes and having lunch by herself at a table in the lunchroom because no one wanted to sit with her, walking to her next class, sitting down in Exploratory Course: Demons, pulling out her textbooks, and listening to Mrs. Lua.

She did _not_ expect for Miss Tiamut to come in asking for her. And she had misheard, right? Miss Tiamut didn't say, "I would like to see Yuri Egin. I will be taking her under my wing as my personal student," did she? Of course not. That would be silly. All the heads of her classmates swiveling in her direction was just a really realistic hallucination. She must not have slept well. She blinked. Nope, everyone was still looking at her. Must be real.

"Miss Egin, it seems like you are needed."

Yuri managed a small and shaky grin. She timidly pointed to herself, like there was another Yuri Egin in the room and everybody was just looking at the wrong one. A nod came from Mrs. Lua confirming that no, there were not two Yuri Egins, and yes, she was the one being called. The fact it was Miss Tiamut getting her made the situation a little less scary, but not by much. Her gentle cobalt eyes hid a smile.

"O-okay…" She gathered up her books in her arms, and wove her way around the desks to the front of the class.

She stood on her tiptoes and Miss Tiamut leaned down so Yuri could whisper in her ear. "I'm not in trouble, am I?"

Miss Tiamut shook her head. "Of course not," she whispered back. She stood back up, saying, "Come, it's time for your first lesson."

She gently took Yuri's hand and guided her out, the rest of the class staring gaping holes into her back. Yuri cowed a little bit, and Miss Tiamut repositioned herself to block Yuri from their view. She squeezed her hand in reassurance. Once the door clicked shut behind them, Yuri let out a sigh of relief.

A huff came from Miss Tiamut. "Are they always that judgemental?"

"Huh?" Yuri looked up. "Yeah, I guess… I mean, to them I stuck out a lot."

"Well, you won't have to deal with them anymore. And you get to learn way more than them anyways. Follow me--I'll take you on your first lesson."

"What're we doing?" Yuri's eyes sparkle, causing Azrael to chuckle. "Where're we going?"

"Haha! So enthusiastic. I like it!" She turned down the hall that led to the elevator. After a couple more steps, they turned her former to arrive at the elevator, which let out a ding as it opened. "We'll be going down to the basement, where they keep the demons."

" _Really?!"_

"Yeah. Uhh, let's see…" Her finger hovered over the glowing elevator buttons. "This one."

The elevator dinged as it closed shut, and began descending. Miss Tiamut took the time to explain to her that they would be going on a mission that day and how she would be showing Yuri demons related to the Ent, the target of their mission.

Yuri was ecstatic. When she had asked her teacher if they would be seeing any demons outside of missions, she was disappointed to hear that they would not. Miss Tiamut, she had found out earlier, shared the same sentiments about the exploratory class as she did: the class was about demons, so why weren't they looking at real ones?

She could already tell, just through their conversation, that she would be learning so much more than her other classmates. Sure, she was less than happy at learning that demons were being held in cages, but that reaction was normal, right? They might be dangerous, but they shouldn't be treated like wild beasts.

Yuri looked over at her new teacher, thinking of a way to ask about this without it seeming completely random.

She couldn't think of a way, so she just said it.

"Why do they hold demons in cages?"

She gauged Miss Tiamut's reaction. Her face became carefully neutral when she gave a cryptic reply.

"Simply because they are ignorant."

A look of clear confusion flashed across Yuri's face, but she figured that she'd better not pry. Some people had their own secrets.

A suffocating silence filled the elevator car. Yuri shuffled a bit, hoping the elevator would just get to wherever they were going faster. She was saved by the little ping that announced their destination, and made sure to stay close behind her teacher as they walked down a brightly lit hallway to a heavy sliding door. A pattern on the door showed it was locked tight.

The question of how to get in was answered as Miss Tiamut took her badge and held it up to the door. It beeped and the patter swirled before it slid open.

"Come on; we haven't got all day. We've got to finish this lesson before your mission." She held out her hand. "Take my hand. I don't want you getting dragged off anywhere."

Yuri gingerly took her hand, a bit more than apprehensive now that she knew she might end up being 'dragged off.'

As soon as they stepped into the room, it exploded with activity. Hobgoblins of all sizes began bouncing around in their cages, reaper frogs sensed Yuri's nervousness and pulled on their chains. Various other demons began clamoring restlessly at their entrance. Yuri may or may not have had a mild heart attack at all the sudden noise.

"This is really crazy…" She was glad she was holding Miss Tiamut's hand. The terrifying cacophony would have made her flee to the door.

"Yeah, this is the noisier section. The ones we're going to see are much much quieter."

"Are they quieter?"

"Much quieter," Miss Tiamut replied, "except in certain situations. Take the Ent, for example. We have a smaller one here. I'll show you in a minute. When it grows, it's peaceful enough that birds feel comfortable nesting in it's branches, but it gets rather… violent when it's threatened."

"But that's what we're gonna see today, right?"

"Yes, and that's why I am going to show you what happened so you're prepared."

"What makes it feel threatened?"

Miss Tiamut tilted her head. "Well, mostly it's fire. Besides that and the usual things you've been learning about like holy water and such, not much else."

They continued walking deeper into the room until they arrived at a cage filled with grass and a couple of flowers. Inside sat a young tree. In the middle of the trunk, he bark was arranged in such a way that it appeared to have a face.

"It's so _small_ ," she commented. Yuri expected a big, giant tree, not some small, spindly thing. It looked like a stiff breeze would break it clean in half.

"Ah, that?" Miss Tiamut shrugged. "It's really only because they're easier to keep if they're smaller. After they get bigger, it is replaced, which I suppose is a good word for it."

Yuri was about ready to ask about what happened after they were replaced, but her teacher had already moved onto the next topic. Miss Tiamut pulled out a small torch and explained that it was a different version of what they would be using later in the day. She gave Yuri a pair of muffling headphones, and explained that she was going to go into the cage to demonstrate what would happen to the students on their mission, instructing Yuri to put the headphones phones on after she entered the cage. She pulled out a pair of earplugs of her own, stuck them into her ears, and walked towards the cage. When she was about to go in, she turned around and motioned for Yuri to put on her earphones. 

Through the thick glass paneling in the cage, she could see her instructor light the torch, and walk towards the Ent. She crouched, ready to leap away, and laid the torch so that the flame barely licked at an exposed root. The tree twisted to life, and the face-like part opened up and morphed into a hideous face, and even with the headphones, she could still hear the demonic and ear-splitting screech it emitted.

* * *

**25 Years Until the Blue Night**

“Gather round!” At the Instructor’s call, the whole team of exorcists crowded in as he explained the mission. “For today’s mission, we will exorcist an Ent! Some hikers and tourists fused with an evil demon and turned up dead. This is a highly dangerous demon!”

 _‘Highly dangerous, but they’ve got kids barely in their adolescent stage here…’_ Azrael did not exactly approve. 

“You will be in a supporting role, but stay sharp!” The or you’ll get hurt was left unsaid, but everyone understood the implications of his words.

All of the students nodded with a chorused “Yes, sir!!!”

The instructor cupped his hand around his ear. “I can’t _hear_ you!”

“Yes, _SIR_!!!”

“As the exorcists and exwires perform the exorcism, pages will lend backup. We will surround the Ent with torches to weaken it.” The instructor turned towards the person with the supplies. “Hand out the torches! Students, form a line please!"

Azrael stood beside Yuri as one of the other students turned to her. "This is my first real fight!" She got a determined look on her face which Yuri mirrored. "I hope I don't make a dumb mistake! Don't get in the way, Yuri!"

Azrael internally scoffed at the other girl's antics and agreed with the teacher who said, "Yuri is an excellent student. I'm more worried about _you_ , Jenny!"

"What did you say?!" Azrael thought she looked like an angry kitten. "You're only nice to Yuri!"

Yuri laughed. "Then I'll be nice to _you_ , okay?"

The students' excited chatterings were interrupted by the announcement that the other exorcist and exwires had arrived. Azrael turned to look for Shiro and found him, his stark white hair standing out amongst the browns, blacks, and blondes.

"Hey, there's Shiro," she commented.

"Huh?" Yuri turned around and spotted him as well, her face one of shock. "SHIRO!!!"

She dashed towards him and disregarded Azrael's protests. At the sudden shout, Shiro looked in her direction. He stared at her while she talked, giving her a disinterested look. He clicked his tongue and turned away.

"Don't talk to me, you _brat_!"

Yuri was left at a loss, with Azrael bristling at the cruel treatment of Yuri. She pushed through the crowd of whispering students and put her hand on Yuri's shoulder.

"Hey, Yuri. Let's go, he'll come around soon."

She watched Shiro's retreating figure before turning to follow Azrael.

Minutes later, the call to get in formation rang out.

The instructor called out orders over the creaking and groaning of the Ent. Then the big order came: "ATTACK!"

The pages rushed forward, going to the very edge of the roots and holding the torches in place long enough for the roots to begin burning.

The Ent's gaping mouth opened even wider and it let out a horrible bellow.

Without the headphones, listening to a fully developed Ent roaring was absolutely deafening. With her enhanced hearing, Azrael felt like her ears literally exploded. She withdrew a couple dozen feet with Yuri in tow to bring her out of the rooty whips that were lashing out. A couple of exwires were caught and thrown back, likely with a couple of cracked ribs from the force of the impact. Looked like there were going to be several injuries on this mission.

It was complete and utter chaos. To Azrael, it looked like the Ent was moving in slow motions, and she could see several openings that were not apparent to the inexperienced exwires. She was a bit bored with the mission at this point, but she wanted to stay at the rear with Yuri and the other students to protect them. 

A couple of shouts went up, and flashes of movement around the demon attracted Azrael's attention. Shiro, the interesting kid, had jumped into the midst of the fray. He threw a holy water grenade which exploded on the crown of the Ent, showering it with holy water. It let out another roar and swiped a massive branch at Shiro, who jumped and clung to the bottom of it. He hooked his legs around the branch and swiped his sword at stray branches to clear and line of sight for himself.

Azrael was dumbfounded at the sheer recklessness of it all.

At the same time that the Exorcists below burned the now-still roots, Azrael's sharp eyes picked up on Shiro throwing a well-aimed grenade into the Ent's mouth, which completely obliterated the demon from the inside.

A small noise from Yuri attacked Azrael's attention, who followed where Yuri was looking to see a whole horde of baby Greenmen fleeing the burning Ent. She plucked one off of her boot and set it on the ground when Shiro began approaching. Azrael shot him a warning look at him to not do anything stupid. He hunched his shoulders a bit and continued on. He completely ignored Yuri's fussing and readied his gun.

He pointed it right behind Yuri, shooting all of the greenmen in rapid succession. Yuri froze, and Azrael growled.

"W-why?"

Shiro gave a cold reply. "Because they're demons."

"But they were terrified and fleeing!"

"So what?" He looked at Azrael. She got the uncanny feeling he was jabbing at who she really was. "Exorcists exorcise demons."

"Yeah, but… _no_! Exorcists save people from demons!" Yuri's voice started rising in volume. "They don't kill perfectly safe demons! So we have to get along! Some demons help us fight—"

"Huh?" Shiro got an incredulous tone in his voice. "Are you _serious_? BWA HA HA! That'll get you _killed_." He walked past her, intentionally bumping into her shoulder. "So go die if you want to. I hate your type the most."

Yuri stood numbly with a shocked look on her face, in hearing of the calls to regroup. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. Azrael hugged her before picking her up and running her back comfortingly.

"C'mon," she said softly. "Let's head back."

Yuri nodded and buried her face in her teachers neck. Azrael's eyes softened and she nuzzled the tip of Yuri's head, letting out a trace of soothing pheromones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> G A W D WHY WAS SHIRO SO MEAN WHEN HE WAS YOUNGER?!?!


End file.
